TWI574824B - Ultrasonic sealing device and ultrasonic sealing method - Google Patents

Description

Ultrasonic sealing device and ultrasonic sealing method

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic sealing device for merging a continuous strip of an absorbent article such as a disposable diaper, and an ultrasonic sealing method.

Conventionally, a production line of an absorbent article such as a disposable diaper (hereinafter referred to as a diaper) is continuously conveyed in a state in which a plurality of continuous webs such as non-woven fabrics are stacked, and simultaneously held in the transport direction. The joining of the plurality of continuous strips is performed in such a manner that a plurality of fused portions are formed at intervals. On the other hand, in the apparatus for performing the above-described processing, Patent Document 1 discloses an ultrasonic sealing device 120 which is shown in a schematic side view as in FIGS. 1A to 1F.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the ultrasonic sealing device 120 has an ultrasonic cone 130 above the linear transport path Tr1a of the continuous strip 1a, and has a lower surface for the above-described fusion processing. The ultrasonic cone 130 holds the anvil 160 of the continuous strip 1a. Next, the same ultrasonic cone 130 supported by the parallelogram link mechanism 135 is configured such that the long axis direction of the same ultrasonic cone 130 disposed along the long side link portion 135L of the same parallelogram link mechanism 135 Maintaining in the vertical direction and simultaneously corresponding to the rotation of the short side link portion 135S of the same parallelogram link mechanism 135, and forming a circular motion in the vertical plane, thus, the same ultrasonic cone 130 Lower end The surface 130a is continuously maintained in a downward direction during circular motion (refer to FIG. 1A to FIG. 1F). Further, the anvil 160 is also supported by the same parallelogram link mechanism 165, that is, the long axis of the anvil 160 disposed along the long side link portion 165L of the same parallelogram link mechanism 165 is maintained at The vertical direction, and at the same time, corresponds to the rotation of the short side link portion 165S of the same parallelogram link mechanism 165, and forms a circular motion in the vertical plane. Accordingly, the gripping surface 160a at the upper end of the anvil 160 is continuously maintained upward in the circular motion (refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 1F).

In Fig. 2, the track Tr130a of the holding surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 in the above-described circular motion and the track Tr160a of the holding surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 are substantially formed, and substantially the circumference of the holding surface 130a or 160a is substantially formed. motion. However, the circular motion of the grip surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 and the circular motion of the grip surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 are opposite to each other, and in addition to the transport path Tr1a of the continuous strip 1a, the above-described circular motion The tracks Tr130a, Tr160a form an intersection with each other. Further, the holding surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 is attached to the long side link portion 165L of the parallelogram link mechanism 160 through a suitable elastic member not shown in the drawing, so that the holding surface 160a is The support is elastically displaceable (displaced) in the vertical direction.

According to this, the intersecting track portion TrC in which the intersections Tr130a and Tr160a form an intersection, when the holding surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 and the holding surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 face each other across the continuous belt 1a (Fig. 1 E), one side is sandwiched from the upper and lower sides by the above-mentioned holding surfaces 130a, 160a The belt 1a is continued, and the holding surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 is pushed downward by the cone 130. Thus, the continuous belt 1a is the holding surface of the holding surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 and the side of the anvil 160. 160a is sleekly held. Then, in this holding, ultrasonic vibration is emitted from the holding surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 toward the continuous strip 1a, and thus the portion to be held in the continuous strip 1a is melted to form the fused portion 14.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-204223

As shown in Fig. 2, when the above-described holding surfaces 130a and 160a pass through the intersecting rail portion TrC, the gripping surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 pushes the grip surface 160a on the anvil 160 side downward. However, at this time, the angular velocity of the circumferential movement of the grip surface 130a on the side of the cone 130 and the angular velocity of the circular motion of the grip surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 are the same value. Therefore, the peripheral speed of the grip surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 becomes slightly slower than the peripheral speed of the grip surface 130a on the side of the cone 130. "The radius of rotation R160a of the grip surface 160a on the side of the anvil 160 is accompanied by the above-mentioned push-in. Reduce the amount." Once this is the case, the portion of the continuous strip 1a held by the gripping faces 130a, 160a will have at least a relative speed to one of the gripping faces 130a, 160a, so that it is feared that friction will be generated to produce fine powder, or The continuous strip 1a produces wrinkles.

Further, when the ultrasonic wave is applied to the continuous strip 1a from the holding surface 130a In the case of vibration, if the continuous belt 1a is relatively slid with respect to the holding surfaces 130a and 160a, the melting treatment becomes unstable.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 2, the "traveling path Tr1a of the continuous strip 1a is a linear track", the "track of the holding surface 130a on the side of the cone 130" and the side of the anvil 160 in the intersecting rail portion TrC The track of the grip surface 160a has a convex arc shape on the lower side and a concave arc shape on the lower side, and the track shape does not coincide with each other, and also becomes "between the continuous strip 1a and the grip faces 130a, 160a. One of the reasons for the relative sliding is that it may contribute to the occurrence of the above-mentioned fine powder and wrinkles, and the destabilization of the fusion treatment.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to suppress a relative speed (relative sliding) between an ultrasonic cone and an anvil and a continuous belt during a fusion process, and to suppress The occurrence of micronized or wrinkles forms a stable fused portion in parallel.

The main invention for achieving the above object is to convey the continuous belt by applying ultrasonic vibration to the continuous belt during the conveyance of the continuous belt of the absorbent article in a specific linear orbit. An ultrasonic sealing device that forms a plurality of fused portions at intervals in a direction, and has: an ultrasonic cone, the ultrasonic cone is used to emit the ultrasonic vibration; and an anvil, the anvil is in the foregoing The sonic cone is directed toward the aforementioned continuous strip When the ultrasonic vibration is performed, the continuous ribbon is held from the thickness direction of the continuous strip with the ultrasonic cone; and a reciprocating linear motion mechanism that urges the ultrasonic cone and the anvil Moving along the forward path and the backward path parallel to the linear track, the forward path is provided with "the ultrasonic cone and the anvil both form opposite directions in the thickness direction, and are continuous with the foregoing In the constant velocity region in which the velocity value of the ribbon has the same transport speed value, the ultrasonic cone and the anvil perform the grip of the continuous ribbon and the abutment while moving in the constant velocity region. When the continuous strip is held, the ultrasonic cone emits the ultrasonic vibration.

Further, in the ultrasonic sealing method, "the ultrasonic wave is applied to the continuous ribbon during the conveyance of the continuous ribbon of the absorbent article in a specific linear orbit, and the continuous ribbon is conveyed in the direction of the continuous ribbon. An ultrasonic sealing method for forming a plurality of fused portions at intervals, wherein: an ultrasonic cone is used for emitting the ultrasonic vibration; and an anvil is used for the ultrasonic wave When the cone emits the ultrasonic vibration toward the continuous belt, and the ultrasonic cone, the continuous belt is held from the thickness direction of the continuous belt; and the reciprocating linear movement mechanism causes the aforementioned linear movement mechanism Ultrasonic cone and the aforementioned anvil, along a forward path parallel to the aforementioned linear track And the retreating path moves, and in the forward path, the both the ultrasonic cone and the anvil are urged to face each other in the thickness direction, and the conveying speed is continuous with the continuous strip The velocity values having the same value are moved; and during the movement at the same speed value as described above, the aforementioned ultrasonic cone and the aforementioned anvil perform the holding of the aforementioned continuous ribbon; and during the movement at the same speed value as described above, the foregoing is performed The release of the restraint; and during the aforementioned hold, the ultrasonic cone emits the aforementioned ultrasonic vibration.

Other features of the present invention are clearly set forth in the description of the specification and the accompanying drawings.

According to the present invention, the relative speed (relative sliding) between the ultrasonic cone and the anvil and the continuous belt during the fusion treatment can be suppressed, whereby the occurrence of fine powder and wrinkles can be suppressed, and a stable fused portion can be formed.

At least the following matters can be clearly understood from the description of the specification and the drawings.

An ultrasonic sealing device is a method for applying a continuous strip to an absorbent article during a specific linear orbital An ultrasonic sealing device that adds ultrasonic vibration and forms a plurality of fused portions at intervals in the conveying direction of the continuous belt, and has an ultrasonic cone, which is used to emit the aforementioned Ultrasonic vibration; and an anvil that holds the continuous strip from the thickness direction of the continuous strip when the ultrasonic cone emits the ultrasonic vibration toward the continuous strip; And a reciprocating linear motion mechanism for causing the ultrasonic cone and the anvil to move along a forward path and a retreating path parallel to the linear track, and providing the ultrasonic wave cone and the aforementioned The same speed region in which the anvils are opposed to each other in the thickness direction and moved at the same speed value as the transport speed of the continuous strip, during the movement in the aforementioned constant velocity region, the super The sonic cone and the anvil perform the holding of the continuous strip and the release of the grip, and the period of the continuous strip is held before The ultrasonic vibration emitted ultrasound cone.

According to such a supersonic sealing device, in the set constant velocity region, both the ultrasonic cone and the anvil are along the straight track of the same continuous strip at the same speed value as the continuous strip. Move and perform the hold and release of the same continuous strip while performing. According to this, in the state in which the speed values of the continuous strip, the ultrasonic cone, and the anvil are the same, the holding is performed and the melting process is performed, so that the relative speed between the three (relative sliding) can be suppressed. ). The result is: suppressing friction and Wrinkles occur and the fusion is formed steadily.

Further, in the above-described ultrasonic sealing device, the module having the ultrasonic cone, the anvil, and the reciprocating linear motion mechanism may be arranged in plural along the linear track.

In the above-described ultrasonic sealing device, it is preferable that at least the first module and the second module are provided in the plurality of modules, and the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module performs the movement of the forward path. During the operation, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module performs a movement operation of the retreating path, and when the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module performs the movement of the retreating path, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module executes The movement of the forward path.

According to such an ultrasonic sealing device, the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic wave cone and the anvil by the first module and the second module is performed in a slightly opposite operation. According to this, the inertial force of the "support member acting on the mirror plate supporting the first module and the second module" due to the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cone and the anvil can be offset. As a result, the mechanical vibration generated by the member disposed around the first module and the second module, such as the above-described support member, can be reduced.

In the above-described ultrasonic sealing device, the plurality of modules may have at least a first module and a second module, and the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module may perform a forward path In the movement operation of the radial direction, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module performs a moving operation of the forward path, and when the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module performs the moving operation of the retreating path, the reciprocating straight line of the second module The moving mechanism performs a moving action of the reverse path.

In the above-described ultrasonic sealing device, it is preferable that the ultrasonic cone applies the energy of the ultrasonic vibration to the continuous belt in a predetermined amount during the holding period.

According to such an ultrasonic sealing device, the ultrasonic cone is applied to the continuous belt with a certain amount of ultrasonic vibration energy during the holding. According to this, it is possible to effectively prevent the degree of melting of each of the fused portions from being uneven due to the fluctuation of the conveying speed of the continuous strip, and as a result, the fused portion having "specific fused strength" can be stably formed.

Preferably, in the above ultrasonic sealing device, there is provided a controller for controlling the reciprocating linear motion mechanism, and the reciprocating linear motion mechanism controls the ultrasonic cone according to a predetermined operation pattern by the control of the controller. The anvil is repeatedly moved along the forward path and the retreat path, and the controller has a plurality of pieces of data of different operation patterns different from each other, and the controller selects corresponding data from the plurality of operation patterns The information of the operation pattern of the size (size) of the pitch of the above-described fusion portion to be formed in the transport direction is used for the control of the reciprocating linear motion mechanism.

According to such a ultrasonic sealing device, the controller selects the data of the operation pattern corresponding to the "the size of the formation pitch of the fused portion to be formed", and controls the reciprocating linear movement mechanism based on the data of the selected operation pattern. According to this, the formation pitch of the fused portion can be easily changed.

In the above-described ultrasonic sealing device, it is preferable that the ultrasonic wave guide device is orthogonal to the linear track in the vertical direction, and the anvil is positioned above the ultrasonic cone in the vertical direction.

According to such an ultrasonic sealing device, the anvil is easy to maintain.

In the above ultrasonic sealing device, it is preferable that the anvil is configured to be movable in the vertical direction, and the ultrasonic cone is configured to be movable in the vertical direction.

According to such a ultrasonic sealing device, since the ultrasonic cone structure cannot move in the vertical direction, the number of movable portions for the gripping operation can be reduced.

In the above-described ultrasonic sealing device, it is preferable that the anvil is configured to be movable in the vertical direction, and the ultrasonic cone is configured to be movable in the vertical direction.

According to such an ultrasonic sealing device, since the anvil structure cannot move in the vertical direction, the number of movable portions for the gripping operation can be reduced.

In the above ultrasonic sealing device, both the anvil and the ultrasonic cone may be configured to be movable in the vertical direction.

Further, in the ultrasonic sealing method, "the ultrasonic wave is applied to the continuous ribbon during the conveyance of the continuous ribbon of the absorbent article in a specific linear orbit, and the continuous ribbon is conveyed in the direction of the continuous ribbon. An ultrasonic sealing method for forming a plurality of fused portions at intervals, wherein: an ultrasonic cone is used for emitting the ultrasonic vibration; and an anvil is used for the ultrasonic wave When the cone emits the ultrasonic vibration toward the continuous strip, the ultrasonic cone is held by the continuous strip from the thickness direction of the continuous strip; and a reciprocating linear motion mechanism that urges the ultrasonic wave The cone and the anvil move along a forward path and a backward path parallel to the linear track, and have an action of causing the ultrasonic cone and the anvil to be in the thickness direction in the forward path Forming the opposite direction and moving at the same speed value as the transport speed value of the aforementioned continuous strip; and at the same speed value as described above During the movement, the ultrasonic cone and the anvil perform the holding of the continuous strip; and during the movement at the same speed value, the release of the grip is performed; and during the holding, the ultrasonic cone The aforementioned ultrasonic vibration is emitted.

According to such a ultrasonic sealing method, the moving with the continuous belt When the speed value of the same speed value is set to move both the ultrasonic cone and the anvil, the two sides move along the linear orbit of the same continuous strip and perform the holding of the same continuous strip. Lifted. According to this, in the state in which the speed values of the continuous strip, the ultrasonic cone, and the anvil are the same, the holding is performed and the melting process is performed, so that the relative speed between the three (relative sliding) can be suppressed. ). As a result, formation of friction and wrinkles can be suppressed, and the fused portion can be stably formed.

(First embodiment)

The ultrasonic sealing device 20 of the present invention is a device for forming a plurality of fused portions 14 at a predetermined pitch P1 in a continuous belt 1a conveyed by a continuous production line in a conveying direction of the continuous belt 1a. . Next, in the first embodiment, the base material 1a of the pants-type diaper 1 is referred to as a continuous belt 1a.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views of the base material 1a of the diaper 1 which is conveyed to the sealing portion including the ultrasonic sealing device 20, and both figures are perspective views. On the other hand, in Fig. 3B, the state before the conveyance sealing portion is displayed is shown, and in Fig. 3A, the state before the third drawing B is displayed.

At the time point of Fig. 3A, the base material 1a of the diaper 1 has a continuous belt 2a which is a surface sheet 2 which can be located on the skin side of the wearer, and a continuous belt which becomes the back sheet 3 which can be located on the non-skin side. The object 3a; and the absorbers 4 and 4 which are interposed between the continuous belts 2a and 3a and are disposed at intervals of the product P1 so as to be disposed in the conveying direction at intervals. Then, the above three constituent elements 2a, 3a, 4 are at : A state in which neighbors are attached to each other and are unfolded. However, the present invention is not limited to the use of the above three constituent elements 2a, 3a, 4.

In addition, at this point of time, the thigh side opening portion 8 is formed between the "absorbent bodies 4, 4 adjacent to each other in the transport direction". Further, an elastic member 6 that "provides the stretchability to the thigh side opening portion 8" is adhered along the thigh side opening portion 8 and the crotch portion 13 . In addition, the waist elastic member 5 that "provides the stretchability to the waist portion" is adhered to the end portion corresponding to the waist portion. However, the present invention is not limited to the use of the above-described constituent elements 5, 6.

Next, before entering the sealing portion, the substrate 1a in the unfolded state of FIG. 3A is present, and the lower portion 13 of the center portion in the width direction is folded as a bending position, and the substrate 1a is rendered. In the folded state shown in Fig. 3B, it is fed into the sealing portion. In other words, the portion corresponding to the front side portion 10 of the diaper 1 and the portion corresponding to the rear side portion 11 of the body 1 are fed toward the sealing portion in a state of being vertically overlapped.

However, at this point of time, the portion of the base material 1a of the diaper 1 corresponding to the body front side portion 10 that overlaps each other and the portion corresponding to the body rear side portion 11 are still unjoined. For this reason, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 of the sealing portion performs a fusion process on the portion 1e corresponding to the side end portion 1e of the waist portion of the diaper 1 to form the fusion portion 14 on the substrate 1a. The body front side portion 10 and the body rear side portion 11 of the base material 1a are joined to each other. However, the present invention is not limited to melting the substrate 1a or forming a fusion at this position.

Here, the fusion target portion 1e, that is, the equivalent of the diaper 1 The portion 1e of the side end portion of the waist portion is formed on both sides of the absorbent body 4 in the conveying direction at the product pitch P1 in the base material 1a. Accordingly, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 is a portion 1e on both sides of the absorber 4 on the base material 1a, and the fusion portion 14 is formed in the conveying direction at the product pitch P1. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3B, the fused portion 14 forms at least a pair of 14, 14 in parallel at positions adjacent to each other in the transport direction. Then, the substrate 1a on which the fused portion 14 is formed is sent to the next step, and in the next step, the substrate 1a is sequentially broken at the position 1c between the pair of fused portions 14, 14. In this way, the diaper 1 having the opening portion of the waist portion and the pair of thigh side opening portions 8, 8 can be formed.

Further, in the case of the material of the continuous belt 2a of the surface sheet 2 and the continuous belt 3a of the back sheet 3, a nonwoven fabric or a woven fabric formed of a heat-meltable material such as a thermoplastic resin is exemplified. A cloth, a film, or the like is not limited to the above-exemplified examples as long as it is a material capable of supersonic fusion. Further, the present invention is not limited to the main process used in the manufacture of the diaper 1.

Fig. 4A is a schematic side view of the ultrasonic sealing device 20, Fig. 4B is a view taken along line B-B of Fig. 4A, and Fig. 4C is a view taken along line C-C of Fig. 4A. In Fig. 4A, the anvil holding portion 72 and the like are displayed in a cut-off (cross-section) manner. Further, in FIG. 4B and FIG. 4C, in order to prevent the drawing from being too complicated, it should be displayed on a part of the member. The section line of the section portion is omitted.

In addition, in the following description, the width direction of a production line is called "CD direction" or "left-right direction." The CD direction is oriented in the horizontal direction. Further, among the two directions orthogonal to the CD direction, the vertical direction is also referred to as "up and down direction", and the same horizontal direction is also referred to as "front and rear direction". The left and right directions, the up and down direction, and the front and rear directions, the three are in a straight relationship with each other.

In the ultrasonic sealing device 20, the base material 1a is continuously conveyed in the conveying direction by the conveying device 90 such as the conveying roller 90 at a specific conveying speed value V1a. In this example, the base material 1a is conveyed along the linear track Tr1a of "the front-back direction is the conveyance direction" in the attitude of "the thickness direction is the up-down direction, and the width direction is the left-right direction." In other words, the linear track Tr1a in the front-rear direction is used as the conveyance rail Tr1a to convey the substrate 1a.

The controller for controlling the transport device 90 (not shown in the drawing) receives the synchronization signal "synchronization with other devices on the production line" and performs a transfer operation based on the synchronization signal. The synchronizing signal is used to measure the substrate 1a from "a device that serves as a reference for the production line (for example, a rotary die-cutter device for punching the thigh-side opening portion 8). The sensor is output by a sensor such as a rotary encoder. Then, the synchronization signal is, for example, a conveyance amount of one diaper (that is, a product pitch P1) of the product as a unit conveyance amount, and is divided into rotation angle values of 0° to 360° in proportion to the conveyance amount. The rotation angle signal. In other words, when only one diaper is transported, the rotation angle value from 0° to 360° is output, and the output of the rotation angle value from 0° to 360° is periodically repeated each time the one diaper is conveyed. However, the sync signal is not limited The above rotation angle signal. For example, a digital signal formed by assigning a digital value of 0 to 8191 to the unit transport amount in a proportional manner to the transport amount may be used as the synchronization signal. In addition, a pulse signal having a pulse number proportional to the amount of conveyance can be used as the synchronization signal, and the number of pulses of the signal can be calculated to detect the rotation angle.

As shown in Fig. 4A, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 includes an ultrasonic cone 30 disposed under the linear transport path Tr1a of the substrate 1a, and an anvil 60 disposed above the transport rail Tr1a; The ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 are reciprocally linearly moved in a front-rear direction in which the forward path and the retreating path parallel to the transport path Tr1a of the substrate 1a are moved, and the substrate 1a is oriented from the thickness direction. A holding drive mechanism that is held by the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the up-and-down direction; and a controller 80 for controlling the mechanism.

Here, the above-described forward path is the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the base material 1a, that is, the front side in the conveyance direction, and the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil are set in the area slightly in the center of the forward path. In the state in which the two sides are opposed to each other in the thickness direction, the constant velocity region Re of the movement is formed at the same speed value as the conveying speed value V1a of the base material 1a. Further, when moving in the constant velocity region Re, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 perform the holding of the substrate 1a and the release of the holding, and not only the ultrasonic cone 30 emits ultrasonic waves during the above holding period. vibration.

According to this, according to the ultrasonic sealing device 20, the moving speed values in the front and rear directions of the substrate 1a, the ultrasonic cone 30, and the anvil 60 can be given. In a unified state, the substrate 1a is held and a fusion process is performed. In other words, since the relative speed (relative sliding) between the above-described three, 30, 60, and 1a can be suppressed, the friction and the generation of wrinkles of the substrate 1a can be suppressed, and the fusion portion 14 can be stably formed. .

After the above-described fusion processing, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 sequentially form the stop of the ultrasonic vibration and the release of the suspension before leaving the constant velocity region Re. After the above-described operation is completed, the ultrasonic cone 30 is completed. In the forward limit Pf with the anvil 60, the moving direction is rapidly reversed from the forward path direction to the backward path direction, and the moving operation of the reverse path is started. Then, during the movement of the retreating path, once the retreat limit Pb of the starting end position of the forward path is reached, the moving direction is reversed again from the backward path direction toward the forward path direction, and the moving motion of the advancing path is started, and then The series of fusion processing operations from the movement of the forward path described above are performed. Then, by repeating the above-described operation, a plurality of fused portions 14 are formed on the base material 1a at intervals of the product pitch P1 in the front-rear direction of the conveyance direction.

Hereinafter, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 will be described in detail.

The ultrasonic sealing device 20 is supported, for example, in a cantilever state by a mirror plate 19 of a "support member that is erected like a wall on a production line." That is, the mirror plate 19 is disposed on one side (for example, the left side) in the CD direction of the production line, and is disposed to extend in the up-and-down direction and the front-rear direction, and the vertical surface 19a is used as a support surface to support the ultrasonic sealing device 20.

Here, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 can be distinguished as described above. In addition to the constituent elements, it is also possible to distinguish the following constituent elements. That is, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 includes an ultrasonic cone unit 30U including an ultrasonic cone 30, an anvil unit 60U including an anvil 60, and a controller 80. Next, in the following description, for convenience of explanation, a description will be given of a method of distinguishing the constituent elements 30U, 60U, and 80. The components of the "forward and backward reciprocating linear motion mechanism" and the "clamping drive mechanism" corresponding to the respective components of the above-described components will be described when referring to the components.

(Ultrasonic cone unit 30U)

The ultrasonic cone unit 30U has a variety of machines that can support the ultrasonic cone unit 30U, and is fixed to the horizontal floor 32 of the mirror plate 19 in a relatively movable manner; and is disposed on the top surface of the floor panel 32 for guiding The ultrasonic cone 30 makes it possible to reciprocate along the linear track in the front-rear direction; and is disposed on the top surface of the floor 32 for applying a driving force for reciprocating movement in the front-rear direction to the ultrasonic cone 30 The drive mechanism 50 is driven in the front and rear direction. The above-described guide member 40 and the front-rear direction drive mechanism 50 correspond to the "forward-rear direction reciprocating linear movement mechanism".

The floor panel 32 is fixed to the mirror plate 19 at one end edge (left end edge) in the CD direction, thereby being supported in a cantilever state.

The guiding member 40 is, for example, a linear guide 40. That is, the guide member 40 has a pair of left and right rails 42, 42 that are fixed to the top surface of the floor 32 so as not to be relatively movable, and extend in the front-rear direction; and are provided with respect to the respective rails 42, 42 respectively, and Card synthesis can only be relative in the front and rear direction Moving sliders 44, 44. Then, the ultrasonic cone 30 is transmitted through the appropriate support table 46, and the sliders 44, 44 are fixed so as not to be relatively movable, whereby the ultrasonic cone 30 is integrated with the sliders 44, 44 to reciprocate in the front-rear direction. The ground is guided.

The front-rear direction drive mechanism 50 has a motor 52 and a feed screw mechanism 56. The feed screw mechanism 56 is a member for converting the rotational operation of the drive rotary shaft 52a of the motor 52 into a linear movement in the front-rear direction and transmitting the ultrasonic to the ultrasonic cone 30. In this example, the ball screw mechanism 56 is employed. That is, the screw 57 of the ball screw mechanism 56 is disposed such that its axial direction is along the front-rear direction, and in this state, the screw 57 is supported by the bearing members 59, 59 on the top surface of the floor 32 to support both ends thereof. Rotate. Further, the nut member 58 is a spiral groove (not shown in the drawing) that is screwed to the outer peripheral surface of the screw 57 via a large number of spherical rotating bodies (not shown in the drawing), and the ultrasonic cone 30 transmits the above-mentioned The nut 46 is fixed to the support base 46. Moreover, the driving rotary shaft 52a of the motor 52 and the screw 57 are connected to each other by a suitable shaft joint 55 (refer to a shaft center formed in a uniform manner). As a result, when the rotation of the drive shaft 52a of the motor 52 is transmitted to the screw 57 to rotate the screw 57, the ultrasonic cone 30 moves integrally with the nut member 58 in the front-rear direction.

The motor 52 is, for example, a servo motor 52, and performs position control based on a position command signal (control signal) transmitted from the outside. That is, the servo motor 52 has an amplifier (not shown in the drawing) having a position detecting requirement for detecting the actual track position. Accordingly, as long as any position in the front-rear direction is used as the target position and is instructed, the servo motor 52 can be based on " The feedback signal from the actual track position of the position detecting element of the amplifier moves the ultrasonic cone 30 toward the target position in the front-rear direction. The target position is that the type of the position command signal is sent from the controller 80 to the servo motor 52, and the servo motor 52 performs an action based on the position command signal.

As shown in an enlarged side view of FIGS. 5A and 5B, the ultrasonic cone 30 has a flat holding surface 30a which can hold the base material 1a from the thickness direction with respect to the anvil 60, and is horizontally close to and faces the bottom surface of the base material 1a. . Then, the ultrasonic vibration generated by the attached ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 is transmitted to the holding surface 30a, whereby the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the substrate 1a held together with the anvil 60 as shown in Fig. 5B. . Then, the portion to be held in the base material 1a is melted by the action of frictional heat such as ultrasonic vibration, and the fusion portion 14 is formed in this portion.

The start of the ultrasonic vibration (hereinafter referred to as: the beginning of the generation) is performed according to an appropriate trigger signal, and in the case of stopping the ultrasonic vibration, it is detected that the predetermined specific energy has been applied. The ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 of (Joule) is executed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the degree of melting of the unevenness in each of the fused portions 14 due to the fluctuation of the conveying speed value V1a of the base material 1a, and as a result, the fused portion 14 having "specific fused strength" can be stably formed. . The above-mentioned trigger signal for regulating the "starting timing of generation" may be generated by the controller 80 and transmitted to the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31, or may be received by the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 receiving the synchronization signal, according to The sync signal self-determines the "starting timing of the trigger" of the trigger signal and is issued by itself. In the first embodiment, the controller 80 generates an ultrasonic generation command as a trigger signal and transmits (transmits) the ultrasonic vibration generation device 31. The timing of the generation of the command signal for the ultrasonic wave will be described later.

(anvil unit 60U)

The anvil unit 60U has various machines associated with the anvil unit 60U, and is fixed to the horizontal top plate 62 which is not movable relative to the mirror plate 19; and is disposed on the bottom surface of the top plate 62 to guide the anvil 60 along a guiding member 40AN reciprocating in a linear direction in the front-rear direction; and a front-rear driving mechanism 50AN provided on a bottom surface of the top plate 62 to actuate a driving force reciprocating in the front-rear direction to the anvil 60; and an ultrasonic cone The upper and lower direction reciprocating mechanism 70 that holds the base material 1a and reciprocates the anvil 60 in the vertical direction of the thickness direction of the base material 1a. The above-described guide member 40AN and the front-rear direction drive mechanism 50AN correspond to the "front-rear direction reciprocating linear movement mechanism", and the vertical-direction reciprocating mechanism 70 corresponds to the "clamp drive mechanism".

The top plate 62 is fixed to the mirror plate 19 at one end edge (left end edge) in the CD direction, thereby being supported in a cantilever support state. Next, a guide member 40AN and a front-rear direction driving mechanism 50AN are provided on the bottom surface of the top plate 62. The basic structure of the above-described guide member 40AN and the front-rear direction drive mechanism 50AN is substantially the same as that of the above-described ultrasonic cone unit 30U 40, 50. That is, the linear guide 40 as the guide member 40 in the above-described ultrasonic cone unit 30U, and the front-rear direction driving mechanism 50 are used. The ball screw mechanism 56 as the feed screw mechanism is vertically inverted and fixed to the bottom surface of the top plate 62, and the guide member 40AN of the anvil unit 60U and the front-rear direction drive mechanism 50AN are formed almost in the same configuration. Accordingly, the main difference between the guide member 40 and the front-rear direction drive mechanism 50 of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U is the above-described point, and otherwise the configuration is substantially the same, so that the guide of the anvil unit 60U is provided. The various structures of the member 40AN and the front-rear direction driving mechanism 50AN are denoted by the same reference numerals as the various structures of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U, and the words "AN" are added after the same reference numerals as in the above description, and the description thereof is omitted. .

As shown in FIG. 4A, the linear guide 40AN of the anvil unit 60U and the ball screw mechanism 56AN are disposed directly above the linear guide 40 and the ball screw mechanism 56 of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U, respectively, and respectively The linear guide 40 and the ball screw mechanism 56 of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U wrap the conveyance rail Tr1a of the base material 1a from the upper and lower sides (thickness direction). Accordingly, the anvil 60 that hangs the slider 44AN of the linear guide 40AN of the anvil unit 60U is positioned above the substrate 1a, and is disposed to face the ultrasonic cone 30 across the substrate 1a. . For this reason, as long as the servo motor 52AN of the ball screw mechanism 56AN of the anvil unit 60U is controlled to operate in conjunction with the servo motor 52 of the ball screw mechanism 56 of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U, the ultrasonic cone 30 can be maintained. In the opposite state, the anvil 60 is interlocked with the ultrasonic cone 30 to reciprocate in the front-rear direction.

Anvil 60 and ultrasonic cone 30 are shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Magnified side view.

The vertical direction reciprocating mechanism 70 (corresponding to the thickness direction reciprocating mechanism) for reciprocating the anvil 60 in the vertical direction has a function of holding the anvil 60 relatively movable up and down as shown in FIG. Anvil holding portion 72 in the direction. Next, the anvil holding portion 72 is movably fixed to the sliders 44AN, 44AN of the linear guide 40AN by a suitable support table 76, whereby the holding portion 72 can hold the anvil 60. In the state, the sliders 44AN and 44AN are integrally reciprocated in the front-rear direction.

The anvil holding portion 72 is, for example, a box member 72 as a main body, and accommodates the anvil 60 in a space inside thereof in a space in which the reciprocating movement is maintained in the vertical direction. Further, the bottom wall portion 72d of the box member 72 is formed with a through hole 72h that can protrude outward from the bottom surface 60d associated with the grip surface 60a of the anvil 60, and has a slightly larger cross-sectional shape than the anvil 60. In addition, the anvil 60 has a crotch portion 60f that protrudes from the upper end portion toward the side, and the crotch portion 60f is engaged with the "peripheral portion of the through hole 72h of the bottom wall portion 72d of the case member 72". . Then, by the engagement, the amount of movement of the anvil 60 downward is restricted to a specific amount, in other words, the anvil 60 is allowed to move up and down only between the specific upper limit position and the lower limit position.

Here, as shown in Fig. 5A, at the upper limit position, the anvil 60 and the underlying base material 1a are maintained at a predetermined interval to form a relative state. That is, it does not form contact with the substrate 1a. In addition, when it is lowered from the upper limit position toward the lower limit position as indicated by the hollow arrow, as shown in FIG. 5B As shown, the anvil 60 will contact the substrate 1a and further press the base 1a downward by a number of distances, whereby the anvil 60 is formed to: with a specific holding force, the holding surface 30a of the ultrasonic cone 30 The state of the substrate 1a is maintained. Then, once the gripping state is formed, the movement toward the lower side is prevented by the ultrasonic cone 30, and there is practically no case where the "anvil 60 is lowered to the lower limit position". In the following description, the upper limit position is also referred to as a "retracted position", and a position in which the holding state is formed in the middle toward the lower limit position is also referred to as a "holding position".

Further, as shown in Fig. 5A, the bottom surface 72ud of the top surface wall portion 72u of the anvil holding portion 72 and the top surface 60u of the anvil 60 (the surface opposite to the holding surface 60a of the bottom surface 60d of the anvil 60) Between the air cushions 74 is inserted as a drive source for moving the anvil 60 up and down. The air cushion 74 has a sealed bag body 74 as a body. Next, the bag body 74 is expanded when the inside is pressurized by the supply of air, and is contracted when the inside is decompressed by the discharge of air. Further, a compression spring 75 is inserted between the bottom wall portion 72d of the anvil holding portion 72 and the crotch portion 60f of the anvil 60, and the anvil 60 is continuously moved toward the top wall portion 72u side by the recombination force thereof ( That is, the top) is pressed. Accordingly, the anvil 60 can be reciprocated in the vertical direction with respect to the anvil holding portion 72 by operating in cooperation with the compression spring 75 and performing air supply and discharge to the air cushion 74. That is, once the air is supplied to the air cushion 74 to form a pressurization, the anvil 60 will move downward by the expansion of the air cushion 74 and reach the holding position, so that the ultrasonic cone 30 below the base material 1a Formation of restraint (Fig. 5B). In addition, once the air is discharged from the air cushion 74 to form a reduced pressure, the anvil 60 is compressed. The spring 75 is pressed back upward by the recovery force, and thus returns to the retracted position as the upper limit position (Fig. 5A).

An example of a mechanism for realizing the air supply and discharge control of the air cushion 74 is a structure in which a compressed air source such as an air compressor not shown in the drawing is transmitted through an air flow path such as a pipe. The air cushion 74 is coupled to the air flow path between the compressed air source and the air cushion 74, and a regulator not shown in the drawing such as a pressure regulating valve is disposed.

The supply and discharge of the air is performed according to an appropriate control signal. For the control signal, for example, it can be generated by the controller 80 and sent to the above-mentioned regulator, or can be self-determined by the regulator receiving the synchronization signal according to the synchronization signal and generated by itself. . In the first embodiment, the controller 80 generates a supply and discharge command signal as a control signal and transmits it to the regulator. The supply and discharge signals are, for example, ON and OFF signals. Then, upon receiving the ON state, the regulator is in a pressurized state and maintained in the ON state during the reception period. When the OFF state is received, the decompressed state is formed and maintained during the OFF state. This state. In the above-described process, in another embodiment, the anvil 60 forms a holding state of the holding substrate 1a in the ON state of the supply and discharge command signal, and the anvil 60 forms a releasing base in the OFF state of the supply and discharge command signal. The performance of the retracted state of the material 1a. Therefore, in the following description, the supply and discharge command signal is also referred to as a "hold command signal".

Although the holding surface 60a of the anvil 60 is disposed opposite to the holding surface 30a of the ultrasonic cone 30 below, it is set on the anvil 60. This point of the bottom surface 60d" has been briefly explained above, but the holding surface 60a will be described in more detail herein. Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the bottom surface 60d of the anvil 60 viewed obliquely from below. The bottom surface 60d of the anvil 60 is formed in a shape pattern (Fig. 3) corresponding to "a pair of fused portions 14 and 14 which can be formed before the base material 1a", and is formed in the left-right direction along the CD direction. A pair of front and rear ribs 61, 61. Next, on the surface of each of the ribs 61, a plurality of convex portions 61a, 61a, ... arranged at a specific pitch in the longitudinal direction are formed, and the respective top surfaces of the convex portions 61a, 61a, ... are the holding surfaces of the respective anvils 60, respectively. 60a. However, this is only an example, and other forms of the holding surface 60a may be employed.

(Controller 80)

The controller 80 is a suitable computer or sequencer having a processor and memory not shown in the drawing. The controller 80 can input the aforementioned synchronization signal. Next, based on the synchronization signal, the controller 80 controls the front and rear direction drive mechanisms 50, 50AN of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U, and the vertical direction reciprocating mechanism 70 of the anvil 60. For example, the amplitude transmitters of the servo motors 52 and 52AN of the front and rear direction driving mechanisms 50 and 50AN of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U transmit a position command signal as a control signal and face the upper and lower sides of the anvil unit 60U. The regulator of the air cushion 74 of the direction reciprocating mechanism 70 transmits a hold command signal (for the supply of the command signal) as the control signal, and the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U transmits the ultrasonic sound generation command signal as the control signal. Control number.

Further, a control program for the above control is stored in advance in the memory of the controller 80. Further, in the memory, data for specifying an operation pattern for specifying the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front-rear direction, and information for specifying the ON/OFF state of the holding command signal are also stored in advance. And the information used to specify the timing of the transmission of the ultrasonic signal. Then, the processor can read the control program and the data from the memory and read the corresponding control program and data from the memory, and realize the driving mechanism 50, 50AN of each of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U. Control; and control of the reciprocating mechanism 70 in the upper direction of the anvil unit 60U; and control of the ultrasonic vibration generating means 31 of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U.

Fig. 7 is an operation diagram of the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front-rear direction (displaying the position between the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front-rear direction and the rotation angle of the synchronous signal) The explanatory diagram of the data of the correspondence pattern shows the data of the ultrasonic cone 30 in the upper half and the data of the anvil 60 in the lower half. The target position in the front-rear direction is arranged on the vertical axis, the forward limit Pf is set to the front, and the backward limit Pb is set to the rear. Next, in the forward path, of course, it moves from the backward limit Pb toward the forward limit Pf, and in the reverse path, it moves from the forward limit Pf toward the backward limit Pb. In addition, the horizontal axis corresponds to the rotation angle value of the synchronization signal, that is, the data of the "the conveyance amount of one product pitch P1 of the base material 1a, that is, the unit conveyance amount" is assigned to each value of 0 to 360 degrees. 360° can also be 0°.

In addition, in the seventh drawing, the ON/OFF state of the holding command signal (supply command signal) about the vertical movement of the anvil 60 is also described together; The first rotation angle value of the data of the ultrasonic wave of the ultrasonic cone 30 generating the command signal timing.

The controller 80 obtains a target position corresponding to the rotation angle value of the synchronization signal from the data of the operation pattern in the body in a specific control cycle, and transmits the obtained target position data as a position command signal. The amplifiers of the servo motors 52 and 52AN of the front and rear direction drive mechanisms 50 and 50AN of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U. Once this is done, the boosters of the servo motors 52, 52AN control the servo motors 52, 52AN to move the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 to the target position of the position command signal, whereby the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil The 60 pairs are convenient to form a reciprocating movement in the action pattern of Fig. 7.

Here, it is clear from the comparison between the graph of the upper half of Fig. 7 and the graph of the lower half, in this example, there is a reciprocating movement in the front-rear direction, and a rotation angle of 0° to 360°. In the entire range of values, the motion pattern of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the motion pattern of the anvil 60 do not have any deviation from the phase of the rotation angle value, and the same pattern is formed. According to this, between the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60, the holding surfaces 30a and 60a of each other can be maintained in the up-and-down direction over the base material 1a, and can be reciprocally moved in the front-rear direction in conjunction with each other.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the first acceleration/deceleration region, the constant speed region that moves at a constant speed value, and the second acceleration/deceleration are set in the forward path. In the domain, the same third acceleration/deceleration domain, constant speed zone, and fourth acceleration/deceleration domain are also set in the reverse path. Here, the speed value of the constant speed region of the forward path is set to be the same value as the "transport speed value V1a in the front and rear directions of the base material 1a". In other words, the constant speed region is the constant velocity region Re in which "the velocity values of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 are equal to the transport speed value V1a of the substrate 1a". Further, in the field of the center of the constant velocity region Re, the ON state of the command signal is set to a range RON that extends over a specific rotation angle value. In addition, in the ON state, the first rotation angle value of "the ultrasonic generation command signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic vibration generation device 31" is set in the range RON of the corresponding rotation angle value.

As a result, when the rotation angle value indicating the synchronization signal enters the above-described range RON, the controller 80 switches the gripping command signal of the "reverse movement mechanism 70 to the anvil unit 60U" from the OFF state to the ON state. In this manner, the anvil 60 of the "retracted position at the upper limit position" is lowered, and the base surface 1a is held by the grip surface 30a of the ultrasonic cone 30. Then, when the rotation angle value of the synchronization signal exceeds (over) the above-described first rotation angle value, the controller 80 transmits an ultrasonic generation command signal toward the ultrasonic vibration generation device 31. In this manner, ultrasonic vibration is emitted from the holding surface 30a of the ultrasonic cone 30, and the portion of the base material 1a held by the holding surface 30a of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the holding surface 60a of the anvil 60 is melted to form a melt. Department 14. The stop of the ultrasonic vibration, as previously explained, is automatically performed by the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31. For example, the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 accumulates the energy (joules) invested in each fusion process, when detecting It stops when the energy input has reached the specified set value. Further, once the rotation angle value of the synchronization signal is deviated from the above range RON, the controller 80 causes the hold command signal to be in an OFF state. As a result, the anvil 60 is raised, and then the state of the holding of the base material 1a is released, and finally returns to the retracted position as the upper limit position, and the standby is performed until the next "holding command signal is switched from the OFF state to the ON state". status.

Here, as is clear from the above description and Fig. 7, the range RON of the above-described rotation angle value is completely included in the constant velocity region Re of the forward path. As a result, the holding of the base material 1a and the release of the holding are performed in a state in which the "speed value in the front-rear direction of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60" is equal to the "transport speed value V1a of the base material 1a". . Then, as a result, relative speed does not occur between each other, generation of friction and wrinkles can be suppressed, and the fused portion 14 can be stably formed.

In the example of Fig. 7, the action pattern of the forward path and the action pattern of the backward path form a mirror image relationship with a 180° rotation angle value as a boundary. In other words, the opposite direction is removed, and the relationship between the above two actions is the same in terms of the pattern shape, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, if the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 are returned to the back limit Pb before the rotation angle value is formed 360°, the motion pattern of the backward path may also form a non-mirror image with the motion pattern of the forward path. relationship.

Further, in the example of Fig. 7, the operation pattern of the reciprocating movement in the front-rear direction is the same as that of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, as long as you are moving forward In the path, the constant velocity region Re in which the velocity values of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front and rear directions form the same value as the transport speed value V1a of the base material 1a can ensure the rotation angle value as a specific range. The operation pattern of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the operation pattern of the anvil unit 60U do not have to be identical.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the controller 80 has information on the "operation pattern of the reciprocating movement in the front-rear direction" for the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U, but the present invention does not. In this case, it is also possible to share the data of one action pattern in the above two. Next, in this case, the controller 80 is configured to transmit the position command signal generated based on the data of the single operation pattern to both the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U. In this way, the ultrasonic cone 30 can be reciprocated in synchronism with the anvil 60.

In addition, in the production line of the disposable diaper 1, there is a case where the size of the product of the diaper 1 to be manufactured is changed, that is, the size is changed. However, in the first embodiment, even if the size is changed, Easily respond. For example, in the memory of the controller 80, the action patterns illustrated in FIG. 7 are pre-stored with each of the product sizes of S, M, and L, respectively. In the eighth drawing, the data of the operation pattern showing the S size and the L size is taken as an example. However, it can be clearly seen from the eighth drawing that the forward limit Pf and the backward are between the above S size and the L size. The distances DS and DL between the limits Pb are different, in other words, the size of the article is larger than the size of the S, and the distance D becomes larger.

Then, as long as the distance D is changed, the "adjacent formation" can be changed. The interval between the fused portions 14, 14" in the rear direction. According to this configuration, the configuration of the image of the operation pattern is selected by the controller 80 in accordance with the size of the product to be manufactured next, and the size of the formation interval in the front and rear directions of the fusion portion 14 can be changed (that is, The spacing between the adjacent fusion portions 14 and 14 in the front-rear direction can be easily changed in accordance with the size.

Further, in the case where the fusion strength of the fused portion 14 is to be changed in accordance with the size of the product, the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 described above has various products such as S, M, and L for ultrasonic vibration. The set value of the input energy (joule) of the size may be such that the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 can select a set value in accordance with the size of the product. On the other hand, the total area of the fusion portion 14 is larger than the S size, and the set value of the energy is of course a large value.

For other methods of "changing the fusion strength corresponding to the above-described product size", for example, when the substrate 1a is held by the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60, the size of each of the products is changed. The strength of the force. This holding force is as described above and is generated by the pressing force of the air cushion 74. Accordingly, in order to achieve the above-described change in the holding force, it is also possible to configure, for example, a regulator that "the pressing force of the air cushion 74 can be set using a plurality of different setting values", and then the size of the product is determined by the regulator. One of the above plurality of set values is selected. Further, both "changing the pressing force corresponding to the size of the product" and "changing the setting value of the energy of the ultrasonic vibration corresponding to the above-described product size" may be performed.

(Second embodiment)

Fig. 9 is a schematic side view of the ultrasonic sealing device 20a of the second embodiment.

In the first embodiment, the ultrasonic sealing device 20 has only one set of the module 20M "composed of the ultrasonic cone unit 30U and the anvil unit 60U". However, the present invention is not limited thereto. It is to be noted that a plurality of modules 20M, 20M, . . . may be arranged along the transport track Tr1a of the substrate 1a. In the example of Fig. 9, the two modules 20M and 20M are arranged in the front-rear direction as an example of the plural arrangement. The same as the first embodiment, the same reference numerals will be given to the same structures, and the description of the portions will be omitted.

Here, the reciprocating movements in the front and rear directions of the respective ultrasonic cones 30 and 30 and the anvils 60 and 60 are arranged in the same operation between the modules 20M and 20M before and after the front and rear. In other words, when the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the rear module 20M move in the forward and backward directions, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the front module 20M also move in the forward path. When the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the rear module 20M move in the backward direction in the front-rear direction, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the front module 20M also move to the reverse path. In the following description, the above-described operation is referred to as "shun action".

The ultrasonic sealing device 20a of the second embodiment of the second embodiment in which the above-described two modules 20M and 20M perform the following operations can be realized by, for example, constituting the following. First, the memory of the controller 80 has the data of the action pattern used by the module 20M in the rear side shown in FIG. And the data of the action pattern used by the module 20M in front. Next, the data of the above-described action pattern is phase shift without a rotation angle value and is completely the same. Further, the range RON of the rotation angle value of the ON state of the command signal and the first rotation angle value for specifying the start of the ultrasonic vibration are set to be the same for both the rear module 20M and the front module 20M. .

In addition, in the second embodiment, since the two modules 20M and 20M are provided, the "rotation angle value corresponding to the transfer amount of the two diapers from 0 to 720" corresponds to the operation pattern. 1 cycle. Then, according to the above description, the two modules 20M and 20M described above can be operated in cooperation with each other, and the fused portion 14 can be formed on the base material 1a of the diaper 1 at the product pitch P1.

However, in the second embodiment, the case where "the number of the modules 20M is two" is taken as an example, but three or more arrangements may be arranged, which is undoubted.

(Third embodiment)

11A to 11J are explanatory views of the third embodiment, and more specifically, "the rear module 20M and the front module 20M are displayed in an exploded operation, and the substrate 1a is melted. A pattern diagram of the aspect of Part 14". In the figure, the fused portion 14 formed by the rear module 20M is indicated by ○, and the fused portion 14 formed by the front module 20M is indicated by Δ.

In the second embodiment described above, as shown in Fig. 10, two The reciprocating movement of the modules 20M and 20M with respect to the front-rear direction forms "a forward movement that becomes the same operation". However, in the third embodiment, the "reverse operation" is performed. different.

That is, as shown in Figs. 11A to 11J, in the third embodiment, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the rear module 20M (corresponding to the first module) are moved. In the forward path in the front-rear direction, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the front module 20M (corresponding to the second module) move to the reverse path, and the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil of the rear module 20M When the seat 60 moves in the backward direction in the front-rear direction, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 of the front module 20M move on the forward path.

Then, according to such a configuration, the inertial force of the "mirror plate 19 supporting the rear module 20M and the front module 20M" can be caused by the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front-rear direction. The mutual offset, as a result, reduces the mechanical vibration generated by the mirror plate 19.

Further, the ultrasonic sealing device 20b of the third embodiment in which the "two modules 20M and 20M are reversely operated" can be realized as follows. Fig. 12 is an explanatory view showing the data of the operation patterns of the respective modules 20M and 20M.

First, in the memory of the controller 80, the data of the operation pattern for the rear module 20M and the operation pattern for the module 20M in the front are stored in Fig. 12 . Next, although the pattern shapes of the above-described operation patterns are the same, the phases of the rotation angle values of each other are shifted by only a half cycle, that is, 360 degrees (one cycle is 720°). In this way, the above-mentioned reverse action can be achieved.

Further, as shown in the lower half of Fig. 12, "the phase of the rotation angle value of the operation pattern of the front module 20M is only shifted by the half cycle (360°) for the rear module 20M," The range RON of the rotation angle value of the ON state of the command signal of the front module 20M and the first rotation angle value for specifying the start of the ultrasonic vibration are based on the range of the rotation angle value of the module 20M at the rear. The RON and the first rotation angle values form only a half cycle, that is, a phase shift of 360°. Next, according to the above description, even in the front module 20M, the fusion processing is performed in the constant velocity region Re of the forward path.

(Other embodiments)

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the above-described embodiments are merely intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. It is a matter of course that the present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is a matter of course that the invention also includes the equivalent of the above description. For example, there may be variations as shown below.

In the above-described embodiment, the disposable diaper 1 for absorbing the excretion liquid is used as an example of the absorbent article, but it is used to absorb excretion such as urine or menstrual blood. The present invention is not limited to the above description, and may be, for example, a sanitary napkin or a pet shimming for absorbing a pet's excretory fluid.

In the above embodiment, the "guide member 40, 40AN of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front and rear direction reciprocating linear movement mechanism" Examples of the front and rear direction drive mechanisms 50, 50AN" include the linear guides 40, 40AN and the ball screw mechanisms 56, 56AN, respectively, but the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 can be placed along the substrate 1a. The linear transport rail Tr1a reciprocates, and is not limited to the above description. For example, the sliders 44, 44AN can be slidably engaged with the straight grooves (not shown in the drawing) formed on the floor 32 or the top plate 62 instead of the tracks 42 of the linear guides 40, 40AN, 42AN, in place of the ball screw mechanisms 56, 56AN, using appropriate cam mechanisms, and converting the rotational motion of the servo motors 52, 52AN into a linear movement. On the other hand, in the case where the cam mechanism is employed, since the above-described operation pattern can be realized by setting the cam curve of the cam, the data of the operation pattern stored in the memory of the controller 80 can be omitted as occasion demands. Further, the connection between the drive rotary shafts 52a, 52AN of the servo motors 52, 52AN and the screws 57, 57AN is not limited to the shaft joints 55, 55AN. For example, a roll having a timing belt and a pulley may be used. Hanging conduction means to form a joint.

In the above-described embodiment, the anvil 60 is disposed above the ultrasonic cone 30, but such an arrangement of the upper and lower sides may be reversed. In other words, the anvil unit 60U having the anvil 60 may be disposed below the ultrasonic cone unit 30U having the ultrasonic cone 30. However, from the viewpoint of maintainability, the first embodiment shown in Figs. 4A and 5A is more suitable than the above-described structure. The reason is as follows.

For example, in the case of the first embodiment, the ultrasonic cone 30 does not reciprocate in the vertical direction, but the anvil 60 can reciprocate in the vertical direction, and has a plurality of air cushions 74 related to the vertical driving. can The moving parts, and these moving parts are of course the object of maintenance. Here, according to the structure of the first embodiment of FIG. 4A and FIG. 5A, in the state in which the ultrasonic sealing device 20 is stopped, the anvil 60 is positioned above the substrate 1a, and is super In the same manner as the acoustic cone 30, the substrate 1a is not covered by the upper portion, and the entire exposed state is formed. According to this, the operator who performs maintenance can easily perform maintenance of the movable portion of the anvil 60.

In the above-described embodiment, the conveyance rail Tr1a in the front-rear direction of the base material 1a is horizontal. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to form an inclination toward the upper or lower side while maintaining a specific inclination angle to the horizontal. However, in this case, the linear track relating to the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cone 30 in the front-rear direction and the linear orbit relating to the reciprocating movement of the anvil 60 in the front-rear direction should correspond to the inclination of the conveyance rail Tr1a, and With the same amount of tilt, the pair is set to form a tilt.

In the above-described embodiment, the suspension driving mechanism 30 is configured such that the ultrasonic wave cone 30 cannot move in the vertical direction, and the anvil 60 can reciprocate in the vertical direction. Not limited to this. For example, the anvil 60 can be configured to be movable in the up and down direction, and the ultrasonic cone 30 can be reciprocated up and down by the reciprocating mechanism in the up and down direction. Alternatively, the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 can be configured. Both sides move back and forth in the up and down direction. However, since "the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 constitute a structure that cannot move in the vertical direction", the number of movable portions related to the gripping operation can be reduced, and therefore the structure is more suitable.

In the above-described embodiment, the air cushion 74 is used as the driving source of the "removing mechanism 70 in the upper and lower directions", but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a pneumatic cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder may be used, or a feed screw mechanism may be employed.

In the above-described embodiment, the stop of the ultrasonic vibration generation by the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 is performed when the device 31 detects that "the energy (Joule) of the ultrasonic vibration input has reached the set value". However, depending on the occasion, when the holding of the substrate 1a by the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 is removed, it is considered that the above energy has reached the set value, in which case only the ultrasonic vibration is applied to the non-sonic wave. The amount of the input in the holding state causes insufficient melting, and as a result, the melting portion 14 may become insufficient in strength. Therefore, it is preferable to constitute the following description. First, the controller 80 receives a signal regarding the occurrence of the stop from the ultrasonic vibration generating device 31 when the generation of the ultrasonic vibration is stopped. Next, the controller 80 compares the "time when the signal is obtained from the stop" with the "time when the release of the hold" is performed, and the time "the stop is generated" is later than the "the time at which the hold is released" In this case, an alarm that causes a poor fusion is output to an appropriate alarm device to notify the operator.

In the above description of the embodiment, the near-distance relationship between the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 on the substrate 1a is described in detail in the released state of the grip shown in the enlarged side view of FIG. Therefore, this point will be explained. In this released state, the grip surface 30a of the ultrasonic cone 30 is closer to the base material 1a than the grip surface 60a of the anvil 60. Then, according to such an arrangement relationship, it is possible to reduce "under the anvil 60 capable of holding the substrate 1a" When the substrate 1a is pressed into the ultrasonic cone 30, the amount of pressing is lowered. Then, according to this, it is possible to suppress the disturbance caused by the press-fitting of the conveyance rail Tr1a of the base material 1a, and as a result, the fusion portion 14 can be formed more stably.

1‧‧‧Disposable diapers (absorbent articles)

1a‧‧‧Substrate (continuous ribbon)

1c‧‧‧ position

1e‧‧‧ parts

2‧‧‧Surface

2a‧‧‧Continuous ribbon

3‧‧‧Back sheet

3a‧‧‧Continuous ribbon

4‧‧‧Acceptor

5‧‧‧Flexible components

6‧‧‧Flexible components

8‧‧‧Thigh side opening

10‧‧‧ front side of the body

11‧‧‧The back side of the body

13‧‧‧ Lower part

14‧‧‧ 融部

19‧‧‧Mirror

19a‧‧‧Vertical

20‧‧‧Supersonic sealing device

20a‧‧‧Ultrasonic Sealing Device

20b‧‧‧Ultrasonic Sealing Device

20M‧‧‧ rear module (1st module)

20M‧‧‧ front module (2nd module)

30‧‧‧ Ultrasonic cone (ultrasonic horn)

30U‧‧‧Ultrasonic cone unit

30a‧‧‧挟面

31‧‧‧Ultrasonic vibration generating device

32‧‧‧floor

40‧‧‧Linear guides (guide members)

40AN‧‧‧Linear Guide (Guiding Member)

42‧‧‧ Track

42AN‧‧‧ Track

44‧‧‧Sliding parts

44AN‧‧‧Sliding parts

46‧‧‧Support table

50‧‧‧ Front and rear direction drive mechanism

50AN‧‧‧ front and rear direction drive mechanism

52‧‧‧Servo motor

52AN‧‧‧Servo motor

52a‧‧‧Drive Rotary Shaft

52aAN‧‧‧Drive Rotary Shaft

55‧‧‧Axis joint

55AN‧‧‧Axis joint

56‧‧‧Rolling screw mechanism (feed screw mechanism)

56AN‧‧·Rolling screw mechanism (feed screw mechanism)

57‧‧‧ screw

57AN‧‧‧ screw

58‧‧‧ Nut components

58AN‧‧‧Nose components

59‧‧‧ bearing components

59AN‧‧‧ bearing components

60‧‧‧Anvil

60U‧‧‧ anvil unit

60a‧‧‧挟面

60d‧‧‧ bottom

60f‧‧‧锷

60u‧‧‧ top surface

61‧‧‧ rib

61a‧‧‧ convex

62‧‧‧ top board

70‧‧‧Reciprocating mechanism in the up and down direction (reciprocal movement mechanism in the thickness direction)

72‧‧‧Box components (anvil holder)

72d‧‧‧Bottom wall

72h‧‧‧through hole

72u‧‧‧Top wall

72ud‧‧‧ bottom

74‧‧‧Air cushion

76‧‧‧Support table

80‧‧‧ controller

90‧‧‧Transport roller (transporting device)

Pb‧‧‧Retreat limit

Pf‧‧‧ forward limit

Re‧‧‧ constant velocity area

RON‧‧‧ range

Tr1a‧‧‧Transportation Orbit (Linear Track)

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing a conventional ultrasonic sealing device 120 that performs a fusion process in the (A) to (F) continuous drawing faces.

Fig. 2 is a view showing a conventional ultrasonic sealing device 120 for explaining a substrate 1a, an ultrasonic cone 130, and the like when the substrate 1a is held by the holding surface 130a of the ultrasonic cone 130 and the holding surface 160a of the anvil 160. The anvil 160 has an illustration of the relative speed.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the base material 1a of the diaper 1 which is conveyed to the sealing portion of the ultrasonic sealing device 20 of the first embodiment, and is a perspective view.

FIG. 3B is an explanatory view of the base material 1a of the diaper 1 which is conveyed to the sealing portion of the ultrasonic sealing device 20 of the first embodiment, and is a perspective view.

Fig. 4 is a schematic side view of the ultrasonic sealing device 20 of the first embodiment, Fig. 4B is a BB arrow direction view of Fig. 4A, and Fig. 4C is a fourth figure A. CC arrow direction view.

Fig. 5A is an enlarged side elevational view showing a portion of the anvil 60 at the retracted position partially cut off.

Figure 5B: Partial cut of the anvil 60 in the holding position Broken enlarged side view.

Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the bottom surface 60d of the anvil 60 viewed obliquely from below.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory view showing the operation pattern data of the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cone 30 and the anvil 60 in the front-rear direction, the upper half is the data for displaying the ultrasonic cone 30, and the lower half is the display anvil 60. Information used.

Fig. 8 is a data explanatory diagram of the operation pattern of the S size and the L size, the upper half is the data for displaying the ultrasonic cone 30, and the lower half is for displaying the information for the anvil 60.

Fig. 9 is a schematic side view showing the ultrasonic sealing device 20a of the second embodiment.

Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation pattern data for the module 20M at the rear and the operation pattern data for the module 20M at the front.

Fig. 11 is a view showing a step by step (step by step) showing both the rear module 20M and the front module 20M in the third embodiment, and executing each other. The opposite operation is a schematic view of the aspect in which the fused portion 14 is formed on the substrate 1a.

Fig. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the operation pattern data for the module 20M at the rear and the operation pattern data for the module 20M at the front.

1a‧‧‧Continuous ribbon

19‧‧‧Mirror plate

19a‧‧‧Vertical

20‧‧‧Supersonic sealing device

30‧‧‧Supersonic cone

30U‧‧‧Ultrasonic cone unit

32‧‧‧floor

40‧‧‧Guide members

40AN‧‧‧Guide members (linear guides)

42‧‧‧ Track

42AN‧‧‧ Track

44‧‧‧Sliding parts

44AN‧‧‧Sliding parts

46‧‧‧Support table

50‧‧‧ Front and rear direction drive mechanism

50AN‧‧‧ front and rear direction drive mechanism

52‧‧‧Motor

52AN‧‧‧Servo motor

52a‧‧‧Drive Rotary Shaft

52aAN‧‧‧Drive Rotary Shaft

55‧‧‧Axis joint

55AN‧‧‧Axis joint

56‧‧‧feed screw mechanism

56AN‧‧·Rolling screw mechanism

57‧‧‧ screw

57AN‧‧‧ screw

58‧‧‧ Nut components

58AN‧‧‧Nose components

59‧‧‧ bearing components

59AN‧‧‧ bearing components

60‧‧‧ anvil

60U‧‧‧ anvil unit

62‧‧‧ top board

70‧‧‧Up and down direction reciprocating mechanism

74‧‧‧ air cushion

80‧‧‧ controller

90‧‧‧Transporting device

Pb‧‧‧Retreat limit

Pf‧‧‧ forward limit

Tr1a‧‧‧ linear track

V1a‧‧‧Specific transport speed value

Re‧‧‧ constant velocity area

Claims (8)

An ultrasonic sealing device that maintains an interval in a conveying direction of the continuous belt by applying ultrasonic vibration to the continuous belt while conveying a continuous belt of the absorbent article in a specific linear orbit An ultrasonic sealing device for forming a plurality of fused portions, characterized by: an ultrasonic cone, the ultrasonic cone for emitting the ultrasonic vibration; and an anvil, the anvil facing the aforementioned ultrasonic cone When the ribbon emits the ultrasonic vibration, cooperate with the ultrasonic cone to hold the continuous strip from the thickness direction of the continuous strip; and a reciprocating linear motion mechanism that urges the ultrasonic wave The cone and the anvil move along a forward path and a backward path parallel to the linear track, and the forward path is provided such that the ultrasonic cone and the anvil both face each other in the thickness direction, and The constant velocity region that moves at the same speed value as the transport speed value of the continuous strip is moved during the aforementioned constant velocity region. The ultrasonic cone and the anvil perform the grip of the continuous strip and the release of the grip, and the ultrasonic cone emits the ultrasonic vibration while the continuous strip is held, and the ultrasonic cone is provided And the module of the anvil and the reciprocating linear motion mechanism are arranged in a plurality of rows along the linear track, and the plurality of modules have at least a first module and a second module. a mirror plate for supporting the first module and the second module is provided, and when the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module performs a moving operation of the forward path, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module performs a retreat path In the moving operation, when the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module performs the moving operation of the retreating path, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module performs the moving operation of the forward path. The ultrasonic sealing device according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic cone applies the energy of the ultrasonic vibration to the continuous belt in a predetermined amount during the holding period. The ultrasonic sealing device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a controller for controlling the reciprocating linear movement mechanism, wherein the reciprocating linear movement mechanism causes the ultrasonic cone to be controlled by the controller The anvil is repeatedly moved along the advancement path and the retreat path according to a predetermined operation pattern, and the controller has a plurality of pieces of information of the operation patterns different from each other, and the controller is from the plurality of In the data of the operation pattern, the data of the operation pattern corresponding to the size of the formation direction of the conveyance direction of the fusion portion to be formed is selected, and the selected data is used for the control of the reciprocating linear movement mechanism. The ultrasonic sealing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the up-and-down direction of the ultrasonic sealing device is for the aforementioned linear track The track is formed orthogonally, and the anvil is located above the ultrasonic cone in the up-and-down direction. The ultrasonic sealing device according to claim 4, wherein the anvil is configured to be movable in the vertical direction, and the ultrasonic cone is configured to be non-movable in the vertical direction. The ultrasonic sealing device according to claim 4, wherein the anvil is configured not to be movable in the vertical direction, and the ultrasonic cone is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. The ultrasonic sealing device according to claim 4, wherein both the anvil and the ultrasonic cone are movable in the vertical direction. An ultrasonic sealing method for maintaining a gap in a conveying direction of the continuous belt by applying ultrasonic vibration to the continuous belt while conveying a continuous belt of the absorbent article in a specific linear orbit An ultrasonic sealing method for forming a plurality of fused portions, characterized by: an ultrasonic cone, the ultrasonic cone is used to emit the ultrasonic vibration; and an anvil, the anvil is oriented toward the continuous When the ribbon emits the ultrasonic vibration, cooperate with the ultrasonic cone to hold the continuous strip from the thickness direction of the continuous strip; and a reciprocating linear motion mechanism that urges the ultrasonic wave Cone and the aforementioned anvil, along a forward path parallel to the aforementioned linear track And the movement of the retreating path, the operation of causing both the ultrasonic cone and the anvil to be opposed to each other in the thickness direction in the forward path, and to transmit the speed value of the continuous strip The same speed value is moved; and during the movement at the same speed value as described above, the aforementioned ultrasonic cone and the aforementioned anvil perform the holding of the aforementioned continuous strip; and during the movement at the same speed value as described above, the aforementioned holding is performed And the ultrasonic wave cone emitting the ultrasonic vibration during the holding period, and the ultrasonic cone having the ultrasonic cone, the anvil, and the reciprocating linear motion mechanism are arranged along the linear track The plurality of modules have at least a first module and a second module, and a mirror plate for supporting the first module and the second module is provided, and a reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the first module performs a forward path. During the moving operation, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module performs a moving operation of the retreating path, and the reciprocating linear moving machine of the first module When the movement operation of the retreating path is performed, the reciprocating linear motion mechanism of the second module performs a moving operation of the forward path.